SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan conceded that his side will be playing Premier League football next season following a humiliating defeat to Lochee in the first leg of their relegation playoff.

Sauchie got off to the worst possible start, going a goal behind and having Darren Cummings sent off, before collapsing in the second half and conceding four more goals to all but seal their fate.

The manager could not hide his devastation after the final whistle and admitted that the defeat summed up his side’s season.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: “We will be relegated and that is the be all and end all. We won’t get out of this position so Wednesday night is pointless to be honest with you. The defending was shocking. The sending off has killed us.

“The linesman has made two horrendous calls. Two of the goals are offside. The referee is saying that the boy played the ball forward so if he has played it forward he has to be offside.

“In every game this season we have defended atrociously and that summed it up. Lochee came here and they wanted it more than we did. That is disappointing for me and it hurts. It hurts me more than most things. The missed penalty and the sending off just sums up our season. That is the way it has been going. All I can do is apologise to the supporters and the club.”

Duncan believes his side cannot even play for pride following Monday’s embarrassing defeat.

He said: “I don’t think we will even be playing for pride on Wednesday. We lost all our pride after that. The only way we can recover our pride is by winning 6-0 and that’s not going to happen. Going up there and winning 1-0 or drawing isn’t pride. That’s just papering over the cracks and they are wide open at the moment.”

The manager expects there to be big changes at Beechwood Park over the summer, and revealed that he is considering his own future as well his players’.

Duncan added: “If I’m being honest, a lot of the boys who have signed up for next year won’t be here. I don’t think we can keep them in the Premier League. It is a whole different beast to the Super League and we will have to make major changes. My heart is always with the club but I am gutted. A whole host of things haven’t been great this year and I don’t know how to fix it. We have tried everything we could but unfortunately it’s just the personnel. We need to do something about that. Unfortunately the way to fix it is by bringing people in and getting rid of others. That is a massive job. Me and Davie have a lot of discussion to have, and we need to see if we are going to be here ourselves.”